


Heroes and Villains

by Skye_Willows



Series: Down The Rabbit Hole [4]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Drama, Connor & Upgraded Connor | RK900 are Siblings, Connor and Niles are twins, Human Upgraded Connor | RK900, Hybrid!Gavin Reed, M/M, reverse au, thief!Gavin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:29:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25225375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skye_Willows/pseuds/Skye_Willows
Summary: The DPD catch an unexpected break in attempting to bring down the money laundering syndicate, but it brings them into contact with the most dangerous mob boss in Detroit: Zlatko Andronikov.In return for his men Zlatko offers to give Niles the perfect career by helping the detective bring in the DPD's Most Wanted, the White Rabbit - the man Niles loves.Niles now has to find out a way to stop his beloved thief from being caught by his friends and family while keeping not only their cover, but them out of jail.
Relationships: Connor & Upgraded Connor | RK900, Hank Anderson/Connor, Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Series: Down The Rabbit Hole [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1447786
Comments: 7
Kudos: 39





	1. The Bargain

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back!
> 
> Whoop whoop, time for more of my thiefverse! I've been trying to write this part for so long but it just wouldn't happen. Funny how today it all just clicked into place.
> 
> **_It's heavily advised for people to read at least_ ** _Catch Me If You Can **, the first entry in this series before reading this part. The others can be missed but if you don't read that first segment, most of this probably won't make sense!**_
> 
> Time for this series to ratchet up. This part will be 3 chapters total (I'm aiming to release all of them pretty quickly) and then speed towards the conclusion of this series. 
> 
> **Part 8 will be the finale, so this series is now officially halfway**
> 
> Hope you all enjoy!

If there was one thing Niles had learned over the years, it was not to get too comfortable. The world could upend itself in the blink of an eye and leave you out in the lurch.

While the last change was equal parts a delightful and stressful one, it left Niles on edge. He was too used to things going wrong when they were heading right. Everything in his life was a case of yin and yang.

When he and Connor graduated from the police academy together, that was the day they found out that their mother’s cancer was terminal. A week after they were jointly promoted to Detective, their apartment was lost because of a fire that started in the one below, along with most of their belongings. Connor was promoted to Lieutenant and his twin slowly lost himself, to the point where Niles feared he’d soon be burying the most important person in his life.

That was the way of his life: give and take. Whenever something truly good happened to him, he had to lose something in return. That was just how it was for him.

Niles was hoping that his new crazy lifestyle was both his reward and shackle. He’d found love, but it was in the form of the DPD’s newly Most Wanted. Were they ever to get exposed or Gavin were to be caught, that was the end of everything. There was a strange thrill to the danger though – Gavin had embraced it from day one, only now was Niles discovering the fun in ‘poking the bear’ as Gavin had called it.

His beloved thief was leaving more and more breadcrumbs now. Every time they found one of his signature rabbits, he would leave more clues about his targets. It was a danger in that Gavin was leaving more behind each time which had the possibility of exposing him, but at the same time it meant that Connor was starting to close the net on the money laundering syndicate. As the DPD began to move in on them, it meant that Gavin’s targets were getting more desperate.

This crime scene threatened to have Niles’ heart in his throat. Unlike the rest of Gavin’s heists, this one had clearly gone very wrong.

Spatterings of blue and red were across the whole floor of the old warehouse on another dock at the harbour, one that Niles knew Gavin had started frequenting. When he saw the mix his heart leapt to his throat – Gavin hadn’t warned him that he’d been in action the previous night and Niles was suddenly terrified when he hadn’t heard from his thief.

When he found a spare moment he slipped to the side of the crime scene, letting North and Josh handle the initial processing so that he could send a message to Gavin.

_Just come across your site from last night. Are you okay? Why didn’t you tell me this one went south?!_

The answer was quick, which had Niles sighing in relief – and explained a lot.

**_Fuck, sorry, Ni. I’m okay, got snaffled by Elijah and Chloe the minute I was clear of the dock – I knew Chloe hacks a lot of the cameras I take offline but I wasn’t aware she’d been watching. She saw the shootout and told Elijah to pull me out. I’m getting patched up, but I was exhausted and passed out as soon as I reached the car. I only woke up twenty minutes ago._ **

_Shit. What happened?_

**_They’d set up something new, no idea what. I got caught out, tripped some sort of invisible alarm. My left arm got shot to pieces but I managed to get clear. No luck with loot though. Only left the rabbit so that you guys knew it was tied to the ring._ **

_I’m glad you did, the shock would have been far worse had I found out later. Are you hurt any worse?_

**_No, thank fuck. Just my arm, so all you’ll find is some thirium. Nothing that’ll give my identity away and nothing that can’t be quickly replaced._ **

The flippancy of that statement had Niles’ heart in his throat and he sighed deeply.

_I need to go, I’m on the scene right now, but I’ll phone you later. I need to hear your voice._

**_I’m sorry, Ni, I’m okay. I’ll prove it to you later, okay?_ **

Niles smiled softly at the reassurance before he took a deep breath and went back to the carnage. At least knowing that Gavin was now alive was enough to help stop Niles from panicking when he saw the remains of the shooting.

“Looks like our thief fucked up this time,” North commented curiously while picking up the white rabbit. It was coated in blue blood which would clear soon, but it was a definite change from their regular crime scenes. “Think they got away with anything?”

“That’s what we have to figure out,” Niles stated while kneeling over some red spatter. “Have our teams taken samples of this blood?”

Josh nodded from where he was looking at some bullet scrapes on the wall. “Yes, and it’s en route to the precinct so that Hank can conduct his own analysis. Once he has some IDs, we can hopefully do some cross-referencing and see if this is anyone affiliated with the laundering ring.”

Niles stood and moved so that he was crouching next to North, analysing the rabbit carefully while she eyed it up curiously. “It seems a safe bet – with the number of clues that our White Rabbit has left about the ring, it think it will be a fair assumption to make that our thief has a personal grudge against them.”

“Still seems weird,” North muttered while spying a broken seam at the back of the rabbit, which was a sign their team had begun to look out for. They’d realised after the fourth rabbit that Gavin had left it was a tell of information hidden inside. “A thief with the perfect endless loot is helping us to find the source of this ring and make an arrest? It’s beyond strange. Why would they give up that cashflow?”

Following her point, Niles turned the rabbit over and gently pulled the seams apart as she snapped some photographs while he carried it out. With the chain of events now documented, Niles reached in and pulled out a data drive, twirling the small white disk in his hands as he waited for North to retrieve her tablet. Once it was out, he offered her the item and she attached it to the reader at the back, the pair waiting as it loaded all of the secrets held within.

“Where the fuck does our thief find all of this stuff?” she whispered in awe. “They could sell all of this info for so much more money, it doesn’t make sense. Their motives seem so confusing.” North looked at Nines with a vague scowl. “We’re missing a big piece of this.”

_You have no idea how big, North,_ he thought while nodding in agreement.

It was times like this that playing his part was easy: his team were intuitive and great investigators, they impressed him with the connections they were making without him have to make too many interventions. Just enough to keep the FBI off their back since they were ‘technically’ making progress, but not so much as to put Gavin in significant danger. It was times like this that he was reminded of the tenacity that had recently secured North’s promotion to a detective herself.

The tablet bleeped to confirm that the download was complete and the pair stared at it in astonishment, realising that it was showing a livestream data of…themselves? As North spun around sharply to lock on to the source, Niles was putting the pieces together in his mind of how Gavin had accessed this.

Gavin had mentioned in their texts that Chloe had realised he was in trouble because she helped him hack the cameras and occasionally watched. Was this how Gavin planned each of his heists? Hacking into their network?

“Got it!” North declared while jumping up and pointing to a camera in the corner. “This is part of a local network, I think this might belong to our laundering ring….”

Josh’s ear perked up and he came closer to look himself. He was the member of their team that was most technically proficient and he grabbed a chair so that he could get a little higher to study the camera. “This is a hard-wired system,” he confirmed. “Closed loop on a central network. There’s probably a small transmitter somewhere else in the wiring which is streaming this feed, it’s the only way to get images on a system like this.”

Realising what Josh was getting at – and what clue Gavin had left them this time – Niles stood and gave him slight smirk. “Can you trace the source of the stream to find where the this drive is receiving the signal from?”

“If I can’t then Hank certainly can: but this signal is going to have to be strong to get through a network of this level – it’s military grade stuff, even more sophisticated than the DPD systems,” Josh told them pointedly. “Anything that can hack through the security which will come with this gear, which is hellishly expensive, is going to be powerful itself. This signal could originate from miles away.”

It was only once they returned to the precinct that they realised Josh was right in his prediction: and just what a huge base of operations for the Syndicate that disk had helped the DPD to uncover.

* * *

Gavin had served up part of the money laundering ring on a silver platter.

The transmitter had been planted in a large office that Niles hadn’t realised was tied to the group, which meant it was almost certainly somewhere that Gavin didn’t rob regularly. It seemed above ground well enough on first impression, but once they remembered that the White Rabbit had left this for the DPD, they spent a little time studying the block by piggybacking the stream and hacking the security using the same cyphers that the transmitter had planted to break the network.

It worked and they had unlimited access to the office’s security systems – and they only had to run three days of surveillance before they spied someone which blew Connor’s investigation into the syndicate wide open.

Among the people that passed through, their scanning software picked up some senior henchmen of a high-profile mobster that ran a gunrunning operation in Detroit – Zlatko Andronikov. Unfortunately he was one of those ‘necessary demon’ characters, someone that kept a lot of the lower-level crime in order: so the DPD left him alone so long as his rap sheet didn’t rack up too high.

While they couldn’t go after Zlatko himself without causing a storm, finding three of his right hand operatives tied to their major money laundering investigation? Fair game.

Connor got authorisation to storm the building within an hour of notifying Captain Stern of their findings, along with the offer of full assistance from SWAT. That had to be a record. What none of them were expecting to find was that Tina, one of Chris’ strongest allies, was now a part of team - which was somewhat of a revelation itself, since that division of SWAT was now run by an android.

Allen was an android that, like Hank, Niles had the utmost time for. He was to the point, honest and stood for no-one’s bullshit. A former security android for stores, he was suited to the work of SWAT but was also somewhat of talented negotiator, as it turned out. His naturally calm demeanour and cutting sense of humour had won over the whole of his SWAT squad and, rather unusually, when the previous captain announced that she was moving, she’d pulled a lot of favours to ensure that the LN600 model was given the promotion that the world needed.

With Allen’s team helping to assist Connor in the raid, it went off without a hitch. Between Connor and Allen, who were both renowned for their tactical prowess through their endeavours, the worst injury which came out of the raid was a twisted ankle when one of the DPD detectives got a little ahead of themselves and tried to vault a table.

Niles wasn’t going to let Markus live that one down for a **long** time.

With their perps in handcuffs and the place locked down for the FBI to clear out, Connor and Niles were celebrating with their old habit after a successful bust: a double cheeseburger with triple bacon and lots of ranch sauce. They didn’t remember now who had started the competition for the unhealthiest of foods to toast to their successes, but it was something that had just stuck with them over the years.

They hadn’t done it since Connor was promoted to Lieutenant until the revolution came around. Now they tried to be a little more proactive about it.

“Want some of my team to jump across and help with the processing, Con? We’re pretty quiet right now,” Niles offered, laughing when some of the sauce from Connor’s burger leaked and his twin tried to catch it. While he was mostly successful, one bit still slipped Connor’s quick reactions and splattered right on his white shirt. The lieutenant’s unimpressed face just had Niles howling more.

“Shit,” Connor swore before sighing and going back to his burger. “Might take you up on that, depends on how much work we’ll actually get to do. We’ll be holding our perps for a few days to do some questioning before the FBI muscle in no doubt, but I think Hank’s going to take a crack at them. Maybe having some extra pairs of hands for the evidence will be a big help.”

Niles had a broad smirk on his face as he swallowed on another bite. “Well Markus is down for a while, utter idiot, so you can definitely have him. Can’t believe he was showing off and got caught out, he’s not fucking invincible.”

Connor snickered while finishing his food. “I do find there is some cosmic irony in Markus being the one to get caught out considering some of his death defying stunts over the years. If we’d not been in the middle of such a serious bust, I think a few of SWAT and the DPD would have laughed at the time. Hank did via his link to me.”

“Don’t blame him. At the time I was horrified in the field but now that we’re in the clear, I’m laughing so much at how badly he went down. Getting his foot caught on a lamp was definitely not his smoothest move.”

“No, it most certainly wasn’t,” Connor giggled before he noticed Niles’ eyes turning skyward subtly. “You’ve been looking up at the sun a lot, Ni. I’m guessing you’ve got plans with Gavin tonight?”

“Maybe,” Niles admitted while rubbing the back of his neck, thankful that his brother hadn’t cottoned on to the real reason that he was looking around at the rooftops. The detective was sure that his beloved thief would be lurking, Gavin wouldn’t be missing out on something like this, though Niles hadn’t spotted him yet.

“Well if you’re booked up, I’m sure Hank and I can arrange everything so that we’re good to go in the morning,” the lieutenant smiled. “I doubt it would take long.”

“Hardly, I can’t have you losing out on time at home with your new fiancé,” Niles teased, snickering at how Connor swatted him away. “You still planning on heading to Vegas for a quiet wedding once the legalities are finally sorted?”

“Yeah,” Connor sighed, “but I’d hate for you to miss out if we did that, Ni. I doubt Amanda would let both of us go at once if Hank and I are absent.”

“She might if you told her **why,** ” the younger twin pointed out, to which Connor breathed deeply. Niles understood that Connor and Hank were worried about Amanda’s reaction to them becoming a married pair since they shouldn’t officially be partners if they were husbands, but she’d already been willing to bend the rules before for her star pair once it came to light they were romantically involved. Niles was sure she would do it again and tell the big wigs to fuck off like she had before: Amanda wasn’t afraid to stand her ground when it came to something she was determined about, which was why she inspired such loyalty from those within Central.

“I know. We’ve still not decided yet, so it could go either way,” Conner whispered just as his phone rang. Seeing who it was, Connor groaned audibly and rolled his eyes. “Fuck, speak of the devil herself – her ears must have been burning. I’d better take this, Ni.”

Niles waved him off fondly. “Go on, I’ll go call Gavin while I’m at it. I’ll catch up with you once you’ve found out what she wants.” As Connor flashed Niles a fond smile and stood to find a quieter spot for his call, Niles took his opportunity to look for a secluded area of his own. With Connor occupied he might now finally be able to get some answers as to what was going on from Gavin.

As he found a small alleyway that was hidden from the main crime scene and away from the view of any officers, Niles dove down it and found a small recess belonging to the next door building. With his spot found, he looked around to see if his Rabbit was lurking anywhere. He only had to wait for a few seconds before receiving a distinctive tap to the shoulder. After his heart recovered from the surprise, Niles spun to see Gavin emerging from a door which slammed shut behind him. The detective pulled his thief in close and kissed him soundly.

“You’re so fucking lucky that I don’t have a tendency to panic when something unexpected happens,” Niles murmured while trading kisses with Gavin, who moaned gently as he was pressed against the door which he had emerged from.

“Never had you clocked as a panicker,” Gavin smirked while keeping Niles against him. “Enjoy everything I left you?”

“Absolutely, though I think you’ve given Connor enough work for a month. How the hell did you get into that system?” he asked Gavin quietly, who chuckled.

“Chloe got pissed, decided to send a warning shot to the Syndicate,” Gavin explained. “They tried to blackmail her and she was having none of it. Now they’ve lost one of their major meeting points, it’s going to hurt them.”

That sent a slight chill down Niles’ spine. It was actions like that which reminded him of Chloe’s threat to him months ago should anything ever happen to her brother – the younger sibling was not one to be crossed. “So you broke in, planted the bug and set it up so that we’d piggyback the signals of the drive you gave us to lead the DPD here?”

“Yep, Chloe knows what she’s doing. Why pay someone as a hired gun when you can bring in the big ones for free?”

Niles had to reluctantly admit it was a clever play. Give the DPD enough to maybe take some heat off Gavin while dealing a major blow to the syndicate. It was indeed genius, and a great way to have no links to Chloe’s involvement. “How is your arm?” he asked gently, running a hand down the white hoodie where he knew his lover was now equipped with a new limb. He’d heard from Gavin that it had needed replacing and some minor customisation after the socket was also damaged, forcing Chloe to work on some repairs.

“Not bad, just a little achy,” Gavin smiled. “I’m back out on duty tonight though, so I can’t come around to the apartment once you’re off shift.”

A sigh escaped Niles; he’d been afraid that Gavin might say that. “Must you? Connor had just arranged for me to get the night off.”

Gavin’s face scrunched apologetically. “Sorry, babe. This is going to be the best opportunity I’ve had for months with the Syndicate in such disarray, I could probably make a couple of big scores tonight. I promise I’ll take a week or maybe more off though? I’ll need to lie low if I make my number.”

“How much are you looking to collect tonight?” Niles asked while running a gentle hand down Gavin’s chest, causing the smaller man to purr in delight.

“Reckon I could score anything up to $50 mil, depending on where they leave unguarded. Won’t find out until I start doing some recon and get geared up.”

That was indeed a large number and Niles couldn’t begrudge Gavin for wanting to secure so much money. It was the sort of number that could secure Haven’s future for years, not just months. With a reluctant nod he let Gavin go and stepped back, giving his thief another kiss. “Will you check in once you’re safe, since you can’t come back?” he asked quietly, to which Gavin nodded. They’d made the agreement that after Gavin’s more high profile heists it was dangerous for the thief to instantly go to Niles’ apartment, so it was likely that Niles wouldn’t see him until a couple of days later.

“Promise,” Gavin murmured before stealing one last kiss. “Have fun working this out with Connor – and tell him that stain looks fucking atrocious, yeah? Maybe you should get him a bib as a joke present, or maybe some shirts that don’t stain so easily.”

Niles snorted in amusement and shook his head fondly as he watched Gavin interface with the electronic lock of the door behind him and open it effortlessly. It was strange that seeing his thief showcase his perfect blend of humanity and android. He knew he shouldn’t find the ease with which Gavin carried out his job so attractive (he was a high profile criminal after all), but he couldn’t help it. There was something very hot in how little effort it took Gavin to work his way around the law.

He promised himself never to make that comparison in his head again, that made Gavin sound way too close to Chloe and while they may be fiercely close siblings, their morals couldn’t be much further apart.

“Good luck,” Niles murmured as Gavin vanished, the thief giving his beloved detective a wink before he slipped behind the closing door. A piece of Niles’ heart always seemed to leave with Gavin whenever they had these clandestine meetings but Niles knew he couldn’t stay away too long, lest he raise suspicions.

Once he made it back to Connor’s car, however, he was surprised by the scowl on his twin’s face. “What’s wrong?”

“You’re going to have to cancel you plans with Gavin,” Connor said seriously. “We’ve got to head back to the precinct immediately, there’s a VIP there.”

“VIP?”

“Zlatko Andronikov’s paid a visit.”

Well, shit.

* * *

Niles hated mob bosses, they always had a presence about them – like they were looking down at gum they’d scrape off their shoe onto the nearest surface. He was sure a large part of that was how he was a cop, but given that they seemed to always have that resting bitch face no matter the circumstance, maybe it was just a ‘mobster’ thing.

Hank had left ahead of the other two to meet them at the front door of the precinct, getting a short debrief from Amanda before the twins returned. “Would have been nice to actually celebrate a bust for a change,” Hank grumbled as they approached, an understanding smile on Connor’s face as Niles kept his face straight.

“I agree,” Connor chuckled. “Might mean we get lazy though. What’s going on?”

“Zlatko’s come down to bargain for his men. Didn’t take him very fucking long.”

“That is indeed quick,” Niles added while taking note of how Hank’s LED was yellow. “Why do I get the feeling that isn’t the entirety of the story?”

An aggressive sigh left Hank and he pulled the pair into the station, leading the way to one of the conference rooms higher up. “That’s cause it’s not, but I’ve got to keep my mouth shut until we get into the meeting rooms. This can’t become public.”

Connor’s face shifted into a hard scowl. “I don’t like the sound of this.”

“It’s definitely got the potential to cause a few problems, put it that way.”

The twins shared a long look as they made it to the elevator and Hank selected the fifth floor: they’d not seen Hank so tense since the revolution, that really couldn’t be a good sign. Connor took a quick grasp of his fiancé’s hand and that seemed to ease Hank a little, the LED skipping back to blue briefly, but there wasn’t much more that he could do. The grey-haired android squeezed back quickly before they broke apart as the door opened.

Niles didn’t blame them for taking that small moment of comfort when they were about to share a room with one of the most powerful and dangerous men in Detroit.

Hank led them to where there were four very heavily armed men guarding the door – two DPD officers and two of Andronikov’s henchmen. The gathering looked extremely odd but the rest of the floor had been emptied, so none of the other officers saw it. Connor let Hank knock on the door and they were beckoned to enter, both of the humans’ eyes narrowing as they saw the mobster with a sinister smirk sitting at the head of the long table as if he were a king. A low burn of anger radiated through Connor which Niles could pick up on, but Captain Amanda Stern levelled both of them with a harsh stare from where she was standing along one of the walls as they entered.

Amanda wasn’t stupid, she knew just what Connor was probably thinking and so did Niles. Connor couldn’t agree with letting a man like Zlatko go unpunished but Niles recognised the ‘good’ he did the city, if it could be called that. Zlatko was a wretched human being who deserved to be gutted for some of the death and suffering he had caused, but he kept a lot of the smaller gangs in check – and with it, it meant that the DPD’s resources could go further than if a gang war erupted.

What Zlatko was aiming for in attempting to bargain with the DPD however…that was something Niles couldn’t understand. He couldn’t think of any terms that Zlatko could offer which would entice Amanda into doing business with him.

Turning a blind eye to Zlatko’s antics so long as he didn’t kill innocents was one thing, but actively dealing with him? Even Niles wasn’t comfortable with it, and he was one that liked to bend the rules to the point of breaking (he really couldn’t say that anymore given he was not only protecting the DPD Most Wanted, but also assisting him). Connor played by the book, he **couldn’t** understand the logic behind any underhanded dealings with Detroit’s criminal elite.

“Ah, what a pleasure to finally meet the infamous men behind the DPD’s role in the android revolution,” Zlatko greeted loudly as he stood from his chair. “Lieutenant Connor Anderson and Detective Niles Anderson, along with the HK800 android that betrayed CyberLife and liberated the androids from their cages!” the mobster declared loudly. “Truly, I am in esteemed company!”

“Wish I could say the same,” Connor spat, which had Niles biting his cheek to keep a snort in. Connor never was one to hold his tongue in an interrogation, which was exactly what this felt like. It was a strange though, Niles couldn’t tell who was interrogating **who** here, and he didn’t like it.

Already he felt like he was on the back foot and that was disturbing. Even Amanda seemed off-balance, though she was hiding it well.

Zlatko barked in amusement while gesturing to Connor. “You’ve got balls, I like that. Explains how you became the youngest Lieutenant in Detroit’s history,” Zlatko smirked while wandering around the table slowly. “And what about your twin behind you? Is Connor the bark and Niles the bite?”

“Connor’s got plenty of bite on his own, but I’ve got a few guns going spare to back him up,” Niles snapped, to which Amanda gave them a tight smile. There was only so far they could push Zlatko before the man turned hostile, but this was just innocent play. Banter. A mobster of Zlatko’s standing and experience wouldn’t bat an eyelid at this.

“Shame you two are cops, I would have enjoyed having such a feisty pair as part of my crew.” Zlatko then turned to Amanda with a cruel smile. “You wouldn’t be up for a secondary trade, would you?”

“My officers aren’t commodities to be bartered, I actually value their lives and personhoods,” Amanda growled in disdain. “You can desist with that line right now.”

A nonchalant shrug emerged from Zlatko as he wandered away. “Fine, fine…Have it your way. That might be back on the table for later though,” he added with a sinister edge that had the hairs on the back of Niles’ neck shoot up. Oh he **really** didn’t like this, it felt like Zlatko was three steps ahead of them; almost like a sniper pinned to their foreheads.

“Just get on with it,” Amanda snapped. “You wanted to discuss your offer and I have brought you the relevant officers who will be a part of this negotiation, so talk.”

Connor stepped in with a disgusted tone. “I’m sorry, since when did the DPD actually make **deals** with mobsters? You can count me out of this, I’m having no part.” Before Connor could go anywhere though, Hank pressed a hand in the middle of his back to make sure the lieutenant didn’t stray before the punch line hit, which had Niles worried. Hank was aligned with Connor’s morals, and yet he was actually contemplating this?

Zlatko was amused by Connor’s declaration and sat down again, kicking his feet up on the desk and lounging back as his smile grew. “Fine, you aren’t the one I really need the approval or information from, Lieutenant. Your brother, however…I can make his life change and set him up for a career paved with gold.”

Niles stared at Zlatko harder and crossed his arms as he stared at the mob boss. “What makes you think that I’d agree to such an arrangement? You assume that I am not of the same opinion as my brother?”

“I’ve followed your work, Niles: I know you’re more willing to deal with the devil,” Zlatko said pointedly, which made the temperature of the room drop to icy. The tension ratcheted up as Zlatko’s tone became more determined and silky at the same time. “Which is why I think you’ll be more willing to take my offer.”

“Doubt it, but I can’t say I’m not intrigued as to why you are that sure I’ll consider it,” Niles said cautiously.

“Wonderful! Here is what I propose: the return of my men, plus all records of their presence at the site to be expunged,” Zlatko smiled broadly. “In return, I give you the greatest gift any officer in the DPD could ask for.”

Niles’ stare grew colder. “I’m not that desperate for a promotion.”

Zlatko’s smile turned chilling. “Oh no, I’m offering something far greater. A promotion is the least you’ll receive for bringing in the DPD’s Most Wanted.”

All the blood in Niles’ body froze and his stomach hit the floor at that statement. Thankfully, Connor unintentionally drew attention away from Niles’ notable flounder as he jumped in. “What?” the lieutenant asked in astonishment.

“Give me my men, and I give you the man you’ve been hunting for months. I’ll offer you the White Rabbit on a silver platter,” Zlatko purred as Niles’ mind went blank.

**Oh. Fuck. No.**


	2. The Dilemma

Niles had to will himself to not lose his shit through the rest of the meeting – but that was a challenge he hadn’t really been prepared for.

Hearing Amanda and Zlatko discuss his beloved thief like a commodity made Niles’ blood boil…but they weren’t to know any differently. How often had they talked about criminal swaps with prosecutors, playing God as they decided who got off lighter while others had to be condemned to a life sentence for the exact same crime?

Given his own tendency to bend the rules for whatever had been necessary before; Niles felt a little sick at himself. Now that he was seeing the human side of the equation and that it was someone’s **life** at stake… He hated how Amanda and Zlatko were currently talking terms of a trade should Zlatko give up the identity of the White Rabbit.

With his heart in his mouth, Niles had to fight to not let out a sigh of relief when Zlatko admitted that he hadn’t managed to get a firm ID on the White Rabbit – but that momentary break died a messy death when the mob boss gave a confident smirk.

“It’s only a matter of time before that little thief resurfaces for the right score. Lay the perfect trap and you’ve got yourself a Rabbit,” he chimed with a confident glint in his eye.

“You sound rather confident for someone who has been falling for the White Rabbit’s heists across several months,” Hank stated dryly. “We know that they have been stealing for 7 months minimum, it seems like a safe bet that this has been going on for longer?”

Niles knew it had been, Gavin had been stealing from the syndicate for 10 months let alone the extras he scored before targeting them specifically – not that he could tell anyone in the room that.

He noticed Hank’s LED spinning yellow and willed himself to calm down. The last thing he needed was the HK800 to get suspicious of his racing heartbeat, though he had no idea how to possibly slow that down right now.

Somehow, Niles had to find a way of sabotaging this op while keeping his and Gavin’s identities, jobs and lives in tact.

“We’ve got a site that we are holding much of our secure data at,” Zlatko went on, waving away Hank’s comment. “While on first appearance this facility is of the same level of security as others, we’ve already trialled that the Rabbit did not detect our extra layer of alarms. Using this same technology we can either ensnare him or catch him on surveillance.”

**Shit, fuck, dammit.**

Niles had to warn Gavin about that tech, the only problem was that Gavin wouldn’t stop even with the added risk. Unless Niles gave him a specific location to avoid, his thief would still make his move despite the raised stakes. He didn’t know how to convince Gavin of just what the risks were if he was caught, this time of all times.

“Where is the site?” Connor questioned, still acting disinterested but Niles could see he was actually invested. Crap, of all things he hadn’t expected this: it looked like Connor was actually **contemplating** this deal.

So much for fucking principles – why of all times did Connor decide this was when to throw out the rulebook?!

Zlatko laughed heartily while standing. “I’m afraid I will not be sharing that information, Lieutenant,” the mobster smiled nastily. “Why put myself at a disadvantage when you have more to gain from this arrangement at present?”

“Then how will we know this is legitimate? Any footage that you send through could simply be an elaborate hoax,” Connor argued, with Niles nodding in agreement.

“I will livestream the security footage once our elusive Rabbit makes his move.” Snapping his fingers, Zlatko’s henchman then stepped forward and offered a tablet to Connor. He stared at it like a deadly snake before Niles spied an opportunity. The detective took it slowly, meeting Zlatko’s eyes in a hard glare as the gangster smiled nastily.

“You are seeing sense, Detective! I applaud you for seeing the bigger picture!” Zlatko praised. Niles had to fight every instinct not to scoff.

_Oh the irony of that statement considering no-one knows the full picture…_

Niles took the tablet and held it to his side before Hank pried it away determinedly. “I’ll ensure that this isn’t bugged before we attempt to link this to any DPD system,” the HK800 androids snapped. “Don’t trust this snake as far as I can kick him.”

“The saying is ‘throw them’,” Zlatko corrected with a sneer, to which Hank smirked.

“Well when I calculate that I could throw you between 15 and 42 feet, I feel it is inappropriate. I can only kick you a maximum of 3.42 feet, so it fits better.”

Connor snorted in amusement and Niles joined him, even Amanda smiled slightly. Hank’s cutting sense of humour had a good habit of breaking tension. Zlatko narrowed his eyes at the android before turning to his subordinates. Another stepped forward and offered a burner phone, again taken by Hank. “We will call you on this number when the Rabbit moves – don’t forget as I will only offer the thief once. If you miss it and I’ve caught him, I will carry out my own plans for him before turning my attention to you.”

The threat was not missed in what was unsaid: if the DPD didn’t cooperate, Zlatko would unleash his people on everyone in their employ. Niles stiffened while Connor’s fist balled, Hank’s LED flashing red for a second.

Amanda finally stood from where she had continued leaning against the wall and stepped in front of Zlatko with no fear despite the height disparity. “I believe you have overstayed your welcome,” she stated coldly. “Get out of my precinct.”

Zlatko winked at Amanda before turning his eyes back to the room at large. “Captain, Lieutenant...HK,” he acknowledged before turning his eyes back to Niles with a venomous smile. “Detective. I have the feeling we’ll be in touch soon.”

With that Zlatko and his men took their leave, but Hank followed them out with the DPD’s security detail to ensure that no one was put at risk as they left the premises. It was only after the elevator doors had shut and the mobster was out of sight that Connor slumped down into one of the leather chairs and placed his head in his hands. “Fuck…talk about a deal with the devil,” he sighed.

“Indeed,” Amanda commented while analysing the tablet in front of her. “I presume Hank has already scanned this technology for bomb threats and is confident they are safe if he left them here, but I am still concerned about their wireless capabilities. Ensure that our technology teams are aware to take extra care with this equipment while we wait.”

“Wait…we’re actually going to take his fucking deal?!” Niles exclaimed. Amanda levelled Niles with a hard stare, causing the detective to rein his reaction.

“You know what Zlatko implied, Niles: I cannot afford a gang war putting our officers at risk. If it means I let three of his men go in return for bringing down a mutual foe, then I am prepared to do what is necessary. Zlatko is far too dangerous for us to simply reject him out of principle, we must make our own plans based off this offer.” Amanda set the tablet down again and stared at Connor emotionlessly. “Connor, meet me in my office once Hank has returned, we must strategize. Ensure that this gets out to **no-one**.”

“Yes, Amanda,” Connor stated obediently as the Captain left, the twins staying rooted to the spot as she headed towards the nearest stairwell to return to the level below. It took a few seconds before Niles turned to Connor with wide eyes, at which Connor stared at Niles piercingly. “Since when do you worry about bending a few rules to catch a criminal? This isn’t like you.”

“Like **me**? This isn’t like **you!** ” Niles accused with a snap. “You’ve always played by the rules, why are you doing differently this time?! We can catch the White Rabbit ourselves, we don’t need to be indebted to a fucking mob boss!”

“It’s not about that Niles and you know it!” Connor yelled, catching Niles off guard. “I’ve got to think about all those that will be going out into the field if I reject Zlatko’s deal! We know he’s not idle in his threats, he’ll create carnage in retribution if we don’t play by his rules, and I-“ Connor’s voice failed him, to which Niles’ interest was piqued. “He’s taken an interest in you: you can bet anything in the world that if we reject this deal, you’ll be the first person he takes revenge on. I can’t risk you.”

All of Niles’ righteous anger was snuffed out at that moment. Connor was right, of course he was…how could Niles stay mad at him when he’d do the exact same thing if their rules were reversed. “Con…”

“Me taking this has nothing to do with me doubting you, Niles,” the lieutenant whispered in defeat. “I know you could find the Rabbit with enough time; but there is no way that I am going to do anything that puts you in the crosshairs of someone as dangerous as Zlatko. You have no idea how much it is sickening me that I’m doing this, I swore to lock up bastards like Zlatko…but if the cost is to keep my twin safe, I’ll do it without looking back in regret.”

Niles stared at Connor for a long moment as bile rose up through his throat. He almost wished that this was Connor taking the easy way out or a decision based on his principles…this was worse, way worse. Connor was going against his own beliefs to protect Niles, it was something so painfully earnest that Niles’ heart **hurt** with what he’d have to do.

It almost felt like betraying the sentiment as Niles was going to have to find some way to sabotage the operation to protect his love. Not so long ago he’d told Gavin that if it came down to decision between his thief and twin, Niles would pick his beloved.

This was not how Niles has envisioned his point being proven…and he knew if Connor ever found out the truth, he wouldn’t be forgiven.

After the pair had stood in awkward silence for a few seconds, Connor’s phone chirped at him and he spied a text from Hank on his phone. As Connor looked at it, Niles quickly reached into his pocket and using months of practice, sent a special code to Gavin with nothing more than muscle memory. He had to warn his beloved that the risk was too high, Gavin had to pull out of that night’s heist until Niles knew more.

Connor sighed after he finished reading the message just as Niles pulled his hand back out of his pocket. “Hank says Zlatko and his men are clear, I’d better meet with him before I talk with Amanda,” the lieutenant said tiredly before looking to Niles with emotional eyes. “You’re not mad at me, are you? I don’t want to do this, but I’m going to regardless of whether you hate me right now for it. I’m not risking you.”

Niles’ heart ached and he embraced Connor tightly. “No, I’m not mad at you and I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did. I’m sorry,” he murmured into Connor’s shoulder, the older twin not realising the dual meaning of Niles’ statement. Connor pulled back with a shaky smile and squeezed Niles’ shoulder before he walked out of the door, leaving the detective to all but collapse in a chair as the reality slammed into him hard. How were they going to solve this?

His phone rang and Niles jumped sharply before the caller ID registered. Swiping on the notification, Niles pulled the device up to his ear to hear Gavin’s worried voice on the other end. **_“Are you okay, what’s wrong?!”_** Gavin asked quietly, though deeply concerned.

“Gav, you need to get back to mine right the fuck now,” Niles muttered through a sob. “Abandon the heist tonight.”

**_“Ni? What’s happened to you?”_** Gavin persisted, to which Niles let out a couple of frustrated sobs.

“Zlatko Andronikov just paid a visit to the DPD and offered us a deal: his men in return of the identity of the White Rabbit.”

Gavin’s voice completely changed tact and Niles let out a relieved sigh. **_“I’m pulling out. Meet you at the food truck?”_**

“20 minutes, I’ll be there.”

* * *

Given what had happened that night, Niles didn’t have to work very hard to ensure that he got away from the precinct. Connor had already all but secured him the night off when Niles mentioned that he needed time to absorb what had happened, it was only another minute or so before Niles got a notification on his phone that Amanda had authorised him to take an early night and clock in later the next day. Niles was immensely grateful and had to fight his instincts so that he wouldn’t speed as he headed towards the designated meeting location.

The Chicken Feed was an old, run down looking food truck under a bridge in the heart of the city. It had been a favourite hangout of both twins for years and, by an amazing twist of fate, had also counted Gavin among its regular clientele. Neither Gavin nor Niles had realised the other knew of the spot until their second date, where they’d swapped stories of various mishaps over the years.

Co-incidentally it was where both men had made contacts for their work. Niles met several tipsters at the Chicken Feed as a neutral location while Gavin made numerous handoffs at the truck: it was a miracle that they’d not crossed paths their given how frequently they were there. Not for the first time, Niles wondered if they had actually caught sight of the other at the spot before they’d ever become something to each other.

Niles parked up (more abandoned his car) when he saw Gavin waiting next to a lamppost and the pair embraced in a tight hug when Niles jumped out of the vehicle. Gavin had already grabbed some food for them, no doubt thinking that it would hopefully ease Niles’ swirling stomach but the detective wasn’t sure if that was possible. Food was just likely to make him hurl at the moment, he was still in knots.

“C’mon,” Gavin urged, to which the pair went back to Niles’ car and switched on the auto drive so that they could focus on each other for the 15 minute drive back to Niles’ apartment. The minute it was in motion the two were locked in a deep kiss, a touch of desperation in Niles’ movements as he held his thief close. “Hey, it’s okay, Ni,” Gavin soothed. “I’m okay.”

“I know, but **fuck** -“ Niles cut himself off as he took a shaky breath. “This is serious, Gavin. Zlatko’s got an eye out for you and you’re in danger. There’s no way you can raid any of the syndicate sites right now if he’s got a trap sitting for you!”

“Baby…I can’t just hide. What’s going to happen when I go dark?” Gavin stated solemnly. “They’ll realise that I was tipped off and they’ll put the pieces together pretty fast. Me staying in the open keeps you safe.”

“Don’t,” Niles choked out, which had Gavin staring at him in surprise. “That’s what Connor said, it’s why he’s going to take Zlatko’s deal. He said he couldn’t risk me if Zlatko decides to take revenge should we refuse…Why is everyone so determined to risk themselves for me!? I can protect myself!”

Gavin’s eyes softened and he kissed Niles slowly. “Because this isn’t your fight, Niles. You’ve been caught in the middle because of what we’ve built between us. Had I been any other perp you wouldn’t have hesitated to take the deal and bring me in.” When Niles crumpled Gavin pulled him into another long hug. “I’ll work something out, okay? I’ve got resources and I’m sure if Chloe gets word that Zlatko’s sniffing around me, she’ll get involved – though I don’t want her to get stuck into this. That could blow up into something a lot more volatile if Chloe decides to go after Zlatko to send a statement.”

Niles shivered a little at the thought of a something erupting between Zlatko and Chloe. Two people with such skewed morals and enormous power? That couldn’t end well…but he suspected there was only one person that would emerge triumphant. Did that mean it would be easy and bloodless though? No.

Honestly, the thought of those two actively targeting each other just made Niles feel shaky. Maybe Gavin had a point.

“Do you really think you could avoid whatever trap Zlatko has set? You were caught out by the syndicate last time,” Niles whispered. Gavin offered him a slightly cocky smile in return.

“Now that I know Zlatko’s after my ass, I can be more careful. I’ve been getting a little slack recently anyway, might be about time to reinvigorate my legend. I’m sure if they got outfoxed by the Rabbit it might cause them to get a bit more careless as they take more risks to catch me. Best way to call out a bluff is to bet bigger over the top: there’s only so far each party can go before someone’s all in and goes bust,” Gavin smirked lightly.

Niles wasn’t convinced but he nodded at Gavin’s statement, the two sitting in quiet company as they headed back to Niles’ apartment. Despite his churning stomach Niles did manage to eat the food Gavin bought before the two turned in for an early night. The detective was exhausted and he wanted nothing more than to curl up with his beloved thief in his arms, thoughts swirling in his head.

He hated that they were already at risk so soon. Both of them thought they had more time, this had come out of the blue.

Neither man managed to sleep to start with, instead lying in each other’s arms as they debated what could be done. They threw out several ideas throughout the night, interspacing it with moment of sharing slow and searching kisses, until Niles finally fell asleep at just before 5, exhaustion finally claiming him.

When his alarm blared at 10 am (he didn’t remember setting it but he was thankful), Niles noticed that his thief was gone. His heart threatened to pound out of his chest until Niles spied his tablet was atop his bedside table, with a small blue sticky note attached to it. Snapping the piece of paper up Niles was relieved to see Gavin’s messy scrawl saying to open the tablet. He then smiled at seeing Gavin’s handwriting on the tablet too in a long note – he’d have to ask his boyfriend how he could do that, it had to be something to do with his cybernetic limbs.

Hey Ni. Sorry, I wanted to stay but I got a message from Chloe – seems like she’s already cottoned on to the fact that someone’s targeting me. I’d better go see her, stop her from triggering a fucking massive issue by hiring some assassins or something. I wouldn’t put it past her.

I’ll catch up with you later, okay? I’ll need to go into a heist over the next couple of days to keep our cover up, I’m not going to wait any longer no matter how much you beg me.

I hate to say this, but is there anyone at the DPD that you trust enough? The thought of someone else knowing who I am gives me the shivers but if they can help…

Let me know. I’m going to lie low until I need to make a move.

I love you, Niles. We’ll solve this somehow – I’ve survived worse, they won’t catch me so easily.

Niles’ heart warmed at the message and he let out a deep breath as he sat back and contemplated Gavin’s suggestion. It wasn’t…the worst, to be honest. It would undoubtedly help Niles if he could entrust this burden to someone else at the DPD. The major problem was in whether whoever Niles trusted realised just what was at stake.

Connor was out. Even though he liked Gavin, Niles had no doubt that his twin would willing toss his love to Zlatko and leave Gavin at his mercy to protect Niles. That would destroy their relationship forever, that was something Niles was determined to avoid. Hank was also out since he would undoubtedly tell Connor.

The rest of his team came to mind and Niles lounged back on the bed as he ran through each of them. He didn’t really know Simon or North well enough, they were the more recent additions to their unit and this wasn’t something Niles could take the chance on. While his gut said that both of them could possibly be swayed, he wasn’t confident. Josh had been the one that Niles had been friends with for the longest, having been at Central before the twins joined, but he was inclined the same way as Connor – more lawful good than lawful evil.

That left Niles with Markus. He…wasn’t the worst of ideas.

Markus had been the one who often helped Niles by turning a blind eye or providing an alibi when the detective needed one. Since he’d been the one to stand by Niles’ side so much before – _we do what we need to do to keep the streets safer,_ Niles recalled him once saying – he might be the answer.

He also recalled that Markus’ father was someone else who existed beyond the help of standard insurance companies: the only reason Carl had any insurance at all was because he paid something like $10,000 a month. Eye watering money for most but the Manfreds were a wealthy family, they could manage. Not many others were so lucky.

If anyone was likely to understand why Gavin was masquerading as the White Rabbit, and thus while Niles was helping him with his thieving ways, then it was Markus.

**And** the other detective was currently deskbound after his accident the previous night. Perfect.

With a plan in mind, Niles left for the precinct. He messaged Markus en route to ask if the other detective was free for them to have a talk when Niles arrived, but the answer had Niles’ heart hammering in his chest.

**Sure but Captain Stern and Connor want a word with you when you get in, looked serious. You in trouble?**

_Depends on what you consider trouble. Not of my own making, but I’ve got caught in something._

**Shit, Nines, that’s a mess. Need a hand?**

Niles could have kissed Markus at that moment for the offer.

_Yeah, I might do. That’s what I want to talk to you about._

**You got it. Meet with you in one of the meeting rooms once you’re done?**

_Interrogation rooms, observation side. Need somewhere where I can lock the door without someone getting suspicious of why its inaccessible._

**Now I’m worried. What have you got mixed up in?**

_That’s a long fucking story._

As it turned out, Niles never managed to get that far.

He arrived at the precinct and went into the meeting with Amanda, Connor and Hank, only to have the rug ripped out from under him once again. They’d scanned the tablet and phone that Zlatko had left them, only to find (shock and horror of a gangster) that it was bugged. While the DPD weren’t confident that their systems could handle whatever was lurking inside, they’d come up with an alternative plan.

“Hank’s probably one of the most secure networks in existence. He’s going to act as an intermediary server for the livestream by interfacing with the tablet: it also has the advantage of his face scanning technology acting in real time. Even a partial image will narrow down our options.”

**Fuck.**

Now Niles has a serious problem: he **had** to tell Hank or the HK android was unwittingly going to out Gavin. He knew Gavin and had caught that glimpse of what Gavin was capable of at Niles’ apartment, he wasn’t to know that Niles was aware of who his boyfriend really was.

The detective felt his stomach turn to ice. How was he going to convince Hank to not tell his fiancé? That was the sort of thing that could break their relationship if Connor ever found out that Hank had kept Niles and Gavin’s secret…

Before he could think too much on it, Niles grabbed Hank’s arm after they left the meeting with Amanda. Connor was staying back to discuss further plans with Amanda, giving Niles his one opportunity.

Hank’s eyes softened at reading Niles’ stress levels and he carefully gave the human space. “You look stressed out of your mind, Nines,” he supplied honestly. “Con and I are going to get this working, okay? The minute I get a glimpse of the Rabbit I’ll have them.”

Niles looked around and nodded for Hank to follow him, the android giving him a strange look when the detective led them to the interrogation rooms. He made a point of texting Markus as they strode across, leaving the door of the observation side open so that Markus could join them after he’d hobbled across on his crutches. Hank was concerned but didn’t say anything as he waited for Niles, the other detective waiting at the door.

Once Markus was inside and seated, Niles shut the door and locked it behind him. He took a few moments to gather his breath before Markus spoke up. “Nines, what’s going on? You look like you’re going to keel over,” Markus said worriedly, which Hank nodded to.

“You don’t need to worry about Zlatko, Nines. We’ve got a plan-”

“That **is** that problem, Hank!” Niles exclaimed, suddenly too wrung out to keep the truth in anymore. “Nobody knows the real story!”

Both Hank and Markus stopped at Niles’ outburst, sharing a look before Markus spoke up again. “The real story?”

Niles had to leave everything bare now. He at last turned around and met their eyes as he admitted his secret. “I know who the White Rabbit is.”

The shock on their faces would have been comical were it not for the repressed anger and suspicion which suddenly came across Hank’s face. “You **know?** Then why the fuck have you not said anything?!”

In a quiet voice, Niles finally aired the truth.

“Gavin’s the White Rabbit.”


	3. The Trap

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took a while, I got a bit sidetracked with the Reed900 Reverse Big Bang notching up a few gears! 
> 
> In saying that, I hope all of you enjoy this little showdown and it was worth the wait!

Niles wasn’t sure whether to be grateful or not that Hank hadn’t just stormed to Connor in a fit of rage. The complete silence after Niles had told his and Gavin’s story was…really disconcerting – not to mention panic inducing.

The HK800 had strode out of the room very quietly after Niles told them everything (including begging Hank not to out Gavin in the surveillance op that was about to happen), and the lack of response was causing Niles’ heart to pound in his chest.

Fortunately, Niles wasn’t left with his thoughts entirely and he felt a hand on his hip. Markus was still confined to the chair a little with his sprained ankle, but he was looking at Niles in understanding. “So Gavin volunteers at Haven, huh? I know of that place, it’s a really essential spot though a lot of everyday people don’t know it. I’m glad they have someone like him fighting their corner.”

Relieved at Markus’ open tone, Niles sighed and turned to face the other detective. “Yeah, Gavin filters all of the money he raises from what he steals to Haven. It’s a crazy amount, but you know from your dad that it won’t last long. Especially not with how many kids they are trying to help. Gavin won’t be able to do this forever, but he’s passionate about giving all of them a fighting chance. I just really wish that he wasn’t having to put himself at such risk to do it…”

Markus smiled warmly and nudged the next chair over for Niles to sit. Niles did so and slumped into the rolling chair, the weight of everything crashing down upon him at once. “I don’t want him to suffer for doing the right fucking thing,” Niles spat out venomously.

“Unfortunately the world doesn’t see it like that, Nines. They see him as a criminal because he technically is one according to the law,” Markus told him sadly. “The joy of the world we live in is that it’s run on money. Those without it are always going to fall foul, and the system is skewed to favour those at the top rather than the bottom. We both know it’s always been like that and isn’t likely to change anytime soon.”

Niles’ posture fell even more, knowing that Markus was right, as the other man went on. “Just because it’s not lawfully right though doesn’t mean what Gavin is doing is necessarily wrong. So long as the law doesn’t know about it…he’s never going to fall foul of it.” That caused Niles’ head to shoot up in hope and Markus smiled warmly. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to say a word. Gavin’s doing some real good and causing some absolute bastards a lot of headaches. Plus, all the little hints he’s leaving us will hopefully mean we can put some of the money laundering syndicate away. That makes him a very good man in my book.”

There was no describing the stress that was just lifted from Niles’ shoulders and he grabbed Markus’ arm in a tight embrace to show his gratitude. “Thank you, Markus. I’m so grateful that you’re willing to keep our secret,” he said heartfully.

“I know you, Nines. You and Connor are both incredible judges of character, so I’m more than willing to trust that. Plus…” Markus’ smile turned teasing. “I know just how much you like Gavin. It would break you if anything happened to him. So let’s get your Rabbit in the clear from this trap that Zlatko and his goons have set, then we can see about planning you both a way out of this mess.”

They stayed and talked for a few more minutes but by then Niles was paranoid about what was happening with Hank beyond the room. Once they’d said all that they felt they could at that point, Niles left with Markus and helped the other detective back to his seat before looking around for the HK800.

Unfortunately, Niles found him talking to Connor and Amanda in the captain’s office and his blood turned to ice again. **Shit!**

He really couldn’t tell if Hank was going to stay on their side or not when the time came…and that was terrifying Niles with every second that he was forced to wait.

Desperate for some reassurance, he sent Gavin a message and prayed that his boyfriend would at least be able to send something back before shit hit the fan.

We’ve got a friend on side, don’t put yourself at risk until I know if it’s going to be enough. Please?

* * *

Niles wasn’t to know it but across the city, at the lure point for the whole operation, Gavin was watching the building with a keen eye when he saw the message pop up. He wished he could say something back to his boyfriend, let him know that it was all going to be okay...

There was no way Gavin could do that without lying though, so he settled for the next best thing and left the message on **_read_**. At least now Niles would know that he was able to see what was being sent but maybe not respond.

He was a little too busy with another conversation that was happening via the small headset in his ear to give Niles the attention that he deserved.

**_“You do realise that this is absolutely crazy, don’t you? Provoking Zlatko is a guaranteed way to end up with you six feet under!”_ **

Growling, Gavin stepped away from the ledge of the building he was using to scope out his location, so that he could focus everything on the voice in his ear. “Chlo, what else am I gonna do? I’m already in the sights of this mob, I’ve not really got much choice. They’re gonna come after me one way or another and hiding ain’t gonna do shit.”

**_“Provoking a crime lord is going to put an even bigger target on your back! And you’re asking me to help with that?”_ **

“Chloe, I’ve already stolen over $500 million from this lot. Don’t think there’s really much of a bigger bullseye I can paint on myself,” Gavin reminded her. “At least if I do this, they might think twice about trying to pull the DPD into cornering me again and try to clean up this mess themselves.”

**_“That’s what I’m afraid of. At least we know the DPD is beyond incompetent.”_ **

“Oi! I’m actually a very good thief, thank you!”

**_“They are still useless.”_ **

“…Yeah I can’t deny that – but you can trust me to take care of myself. I’ve managed it thus far, haven’t I?”

He could hear Chloe sighing painfully on the other end of the line. **_“That doesn’t mean I want to encourage you in this. Is that not exactly what I’m doing if I help you to pull this off? I want you safe, Gavin. This is not that, this is dangling you like a treat for wolves to come snapping at your heels!”_**

Gavin’s heart warmed at Chloe’s admission. As much as they might disagree about him being the White Rabbit and taking on such dangerous individuals like the Syndicate, there was no doubting that her loyalty was always to him. It always had been: she’d literally rewritten the laws of physics and usurped the natural order of the world to find a way to give Gavin his life back and make it ‘legal’. Chloe had given him so much…

No matter how part of Gavin hated that he felt he was using her at a time like this, there was still another ultimate truth though. There were so many others lying sick and waiting for a miracle, but they didn’t have a Chloe who would sooner watch the world burn rather than lose the most important person in their life. It was just was well there weren’t more of her kind around because the world couldn’t handle it, really, but that wasn’t the side of the story that Gavin focused on.

All of those sick kids needed some help, someone to be on their side when the world was stacked up against them through no fault of their own. They didn’t ask to be so frail that no-one was willing to extend the time, money and kindness to give them a fighting chance.

He could make a difference, so he was damn well going to do it.

“Chloe, I’ll be okay,” Gavin reassured her. “I’ll still have you watching my back and I’m not going to be making a habit of this. I just need you to help me make this one show, and then I’ll be ghosting for a little while. Smaller targets, keeping myself off their radar until things calm down, okay? I’m not stupid, I know what messing with the likes of Zlatko and his gang is going to mean but I can lie low. Thanks to you I know how this system works, I can slip through the cracks.”

**_“It’s not as if I play a significant role in that system or pay for it so that I can keep that element of control,”_** she added bitingly, but the silence that followed told Gavin all he needed to know. There wasn’t another snap argument, she’d already accepted what was going to happen. She was just getting her head around accepting it. **_“Tell me exactly what you need and I’ll tell you what I can do. Don’t forget there is a limit to what I’m capable of, Gavin, despite first appearances.”_**

“Nah, you’ve never found a wall to beat you yet,” Gavin replied warmly to his younger sister. “Thanks, Chlo. I’ll make sure to spend a weekend with you and Elijah as part of my downtime to thank you for this.”

**_“You might as well bring Detective Anderson with you, since he seems to be sticking around.”_ **

The sarcasm in Chloe’s voice was a good tension breaker. Something the siblings needed before they dove into planning this stunt fully.

Gavin knew there was no going back after this, but he was already a nuisance to the syndicate anyway. Infamous, reviled…

Might as well make himself a legend along the way.

* * *

When Niles got a message on his phone he was praying that it was Gavin, but his hopes were abruptly dashed when he saw Connor’s name on screen. The words which followed had Niles threatening to be sick: everything was starting to unravel right in front of him and Niles knew there was nothing he could do to help his beloved thief. All he could do was play spectator to whatever followed on from this.

**Zlatko has messaged us, the Rabbit is moving in. Come to the upstairs conference room, just as before. We’re all set up for the surveillance of the White Rabbit’s attempted theft. Let’s see whether this actually comes through.**

**Fuck!**

Despite Niles’ pleas for Gavin to hold off, his Rabbit was about to hurl himself straight into the lions den. Surely Gavin knew just what this would entail, that he was walking right into a trap?

At this point all Niles could do was trust that his boyfriend had a plan. If this ended with his thief’s face on every board in the state, Niles knew it was over for both of them.

He trudged his way up to the conference room on the floors above and was using every instinct to keep a straight face as he entered. Amanda was sitting with a stern expression at the other side of the table, living up to her last name, as she watched an assortment of camera feeds appear on the screen in front. They were flickering and changing rapidly, so fast that Niles couldn’t keep up with any of the images, but he then spied Connor and Hank nearby.

The HK800’s LED was blinking yellow rapidly as he streamed everything from the tablet that Zlatko had left them via his own firewalls, ensuring that the DPD wasn’t exposed to any of the mobster’s schemes. Occasionally it would flicker red as he came across something unexpected and the camera footage would blink out before resuming.

“Make that six hacking attempts,” Hank muttered as he concentrated. “You’d think they’d give up the ghost by now?”

“You’ve not been part of this force for long enough to know that Zlatko’s crew are known for their persistence above all else,” Amanda commented dryly while bringing up her own tablet and adding some notes. “Keep vigilant, Hank. We can’t afford for these hacking attempts to disrupt your systems and miss a chance of getting a positive ID on the White Rabbit.”

“At this rate, Zlatko’s just jeopardising his own deal. You might wanna tell him that via the burner phone if you want us to have a clear line,” Hank stated bluntly, but Amanda took the hint. Niles swallowed hard as Amanda picked the device up to no doubt send the message, but Connor then spied Niles’ arrival and flashed his twin a tired smile.

“Hey, Nines. Might be a lot fucking sooner than we planned but the White Rabbit’s making a move,” the lieutenant told him while wandering towards his brother. “Hank’s got the uplink working but the mob are trying to make remote hacking attempts, just as we suspected they might. He should be able to handle them no problem, but it might cause some issues with face recognition. He’ll probably have to deactivate his real-time feature and we’ll run it through the mainframe after all of this is over.”

Niles nodded while trying to keep a straight face. Maybe he would have another chance to convince Hank after all. “Any sign of the Rabbit?” he asked tightly, taking a seat at the long conference table with Connor right next to him.

“Some of the cameras are going offline and coming back on in a pattern,” Hank confirmed from where he was still interfacing with the tablet. “They’re following the layout of the site from blueprints I’ve scavenged from their mainframe, so it seems our thief knows what they’re doing.”

“Wait. Hank, are you actually managing to take information of your own while fighting off their own system attacks?” Connor asked in awe, warmth evident in his tone.

Hank flashed his fiancé a smirk before winking. “I’m still the second-most advanced android ever made, Con. Beyond all the initial flash and fireworks, this system ain’t up to much. How many volumes you looking to read through once this is over? I’m sure I can pull plenty more from this link.”

As Connor laughed lightly and Niles smiled despite his nerves, Amanda added her thoughts – though there was no mistaking her impressed tone. “Keep your focus on the target for now, Hank. Anything extra that you manage to glean will undoubtedly be a bonus, but the White Rabbit is our primary aim.”

“You got it. Seems like our Rabbit’s finally making a more obvious play: there’s another hack attempt that has brought down the primary camera array. Zlatko’s team are booting up their ghost network as we speak and we’re being wired into it.”

Everyone watched as the cameras all flickered and died before coming back up in a different hue. No longer a simple CCTV feed, it was more akin to night vision as they saw thermal signatures showing in white silhouettes outdoors. Inside was still as before, but the cameras had a distinct blue tinge to them. “Primary feed is down and it’s gonna stay that way for a while, looks like the Rabbit’s got a nasty little code that they’ve added to the system,” Hank updated the rest of them.

“Shit, look!” Connor pointed all of them to the top right most image, where they saw another white figure dart in and out of frame at top speed. Niles’ heart was in his mouth as he recognised Gavin’s acrobatics, seeing his thief drop from a high point to knock his target out cold. With that guard down Gavin hid the body well out of sight before advancing slowly, creeping his way around the surroundings to make sure he didn’t tip off any patrols. “Can you get an ID on him from this view, Hank?”

“No chance, only got silhouettes, “ the android confirmed. “I’ll only be able to see them once they are indoors. Judging from the movements and physique though, I’d be willing to bet that we’re looking for a masculine-based android model. Could still be a human but I’m not willing to bet we’ve got a human who can move with that much agility at such high precision.”

Amanda hummed as they watched Gavin get the jump on two more guards, leaving them unconscious before removing the evidence. “How many models match those dimensions?”

“About 2.5 million, if I’m using a 5 percent margin of error.”

“Fantastic. That’s no help thus far. Keep your eyes peeled, all of you, for any openings or partials,” Amanda ordered. Connor nodded before focusing once more and Niles just managed to vaguely repeat the action, but he was currently enthralled by watching his beloved in motion. Gavin was…awesome, in a word.

He was assured, fleet-footed and non-lethal. Every guard that he came across was knocked unconscious and stowed away before he moved along, not once did Gavin even **contemplate** something more vicious instead. He’d soon cleared a whole segment of the perimeter before he managed some more creative wall scaling to reach a vent on the second floor.

Honestly, Niles hadn’t fully grasped what Gavin was capable of until now. Watching this was terrifying but…reassuring at the same time.

Once he was indoors, however, the picture was suddenly much clearer and Niles’ heart leapt back to his throat. He was relieved that Gavin seemed to have at least a basic knowledge of where all the cameras were, since he was keeping his back to all of them. It had Hank growling in frustration and Connor scowling next to Niles. “He’s aware that we’re watching,” Connor guessed. “He knows they’re online – why else would be so careful about them having uploaded the virus to bring the network down?”

“Why would the Rabbit keep going if he thinks that the cameras are still online? Doesn’t that just defeat the purpose of that first upload?” Amanda asked, to which Niles suddenly realised that Connor was right. Gavin **did** know they were still on, he had no reason to be so hyper aware.

So why was Gavin advancing and putting himself at such risk…?

Unless he **wanted** to be seen.

* * *

Once Gavin was inside the facility, he took his time to link into the mobile communications array built into his arm and pulled out an earwig: fitting it and a specially designed contact lens for his right eye before more company came around. It only took a few seconds for the readout to generate and the world became much sharper for Gavin - many more dimensions to how a human could perceive it as he saw the ambient air temperature, sound levels, notifications of any interference and (most importantly) any cameras highlighted in red.

Honestly, he had to wonder how his sister came up with half of this shit. It was what made his life so much easier for any of his heists.

**_“Are you going to dawdle all day or are you going to get moving?”_ **

The snarky voice in Gavin’s ear had him chuckling as he took note of the sound levels beyond the door in front of him. “I’m allowed to take my sweet time, Elijah, it’s not as if I’m in a hurry,” Gavin joked back quietly. “Everything good?”

**_“Zlatko’s security system is down apart from the cameras, as requested. As far as he’s concerned, however, everything is operational,”_** Elijah confirmed.

“Perfect, thanks. Won’t know he’s been outplayed until I’m at the server room,” Gavin whispered as he cracked the door now that his company was gone. “Anything I need to know from what you can see?”

**_“Same as it’s been since Zlatko threw more men into the facility. You’re looking at 15 total across the two floors, most are concentrated around the entrances. Five are wandering the corridors.”_ **

“Piece of cake,” Gavin smirked as he gently clicked the door closed upon hearing some company approaching. He waited until the guard had just wandered past the door before busting it open and making a precision chop to their neck, causing them to drop like a stone. With that problem out of the way, Gavin dragged them back into the room and interfaced with the lock to jam it behind him. “One down. Which direction are they patrolling?”

**_“Clockwise on the northern half, anticlockwise on the southern half. You’ll find two more on patrol on your side before one walking the halls on the south side. One more is stationed at the door of the server room.”_ **

“Cheers. Going dark, keep me posted.” Gavin then started stalking the corridors in the same direction as the guards to ensure that he crept up behind them, rather than running into them. It only took a few minutes of careful manoeuvring to ensure that he was never facing any cameras before Gavin happened up his other two targets. They were wandering together, chatting away animatedly – Gavin’s perfect chance.

Before they really had the chance to even acknowledge that they were under attack, Gavin flicked a coin past to distract them before speeding towards them. With his android limbs Gavin was far faster than a normal human and closed the distance at top speed. One spun back and was promptly met by Gavin’s fist to his face, while the other was tasered in the abdomen before taking an elbow to the face.

Both targets downed, Gavin dumped them in another nearby office before advancing again. Elijah warned him when he was coming to the crossover part of the patrol and the guard was looking bemused when he noticed that there was no-one there to greet him. Waiting until he turned back to look the other direction and radioed in to ask where the others were, Gavin crept up as fast as he could and promptly stuffed the guard’s jacket over his head. With him suitably confused, Gavin them tasered him at the base of his spine. Once he’d crumpled, Gavin elbowed him in the temple to knock him out.

**_“Movement on the bottom floor, Gavin, you’re running out of time. Step it up to the server room.”_ **

Gavin didn’t acknowledge Elijah’s warning verbally but he took it seriously, racing towards his target. Not taking any chances with time now, he slid along the floor as he reached the corner to catch the guard by surprise and fired his taser at the unsuspecting victim. With his target frozen, Gavin slammed him against the door to knock him out cold and left his prey to tumble to the floor as he hacked the door to the server room. Seconds later it was open and Gavin slipped inside with a smirk.

“Bet you Zlatko’s spitting teeth right now,” he purred while heading towards the computers and interfacing with his right hand. “How long’s the download going to take?”

**_“19 seconds, they’ve encrypted everything so it’ll take us some time to unscramble. Looks like the decryption key isn’t held on this server, might take a while without it.”_ **

“I’ll find it later,” Gavin declared while his lens picked up the increased ambient sounds. “Company en route?”

**_“37 seconds away from your position, you’ll have plenty of time to escape.”_ **

“Escape? Hell no, you know that’s not what I’m about to do, Elijah. How big are the groups?”

**_“Gavin-”_ **

“Chloe knows what I’m up to, don’t get on your high horse with me,” Gavin snapped. “How many?”

Elijah sighed in annoyance. **_“You’re going to get yourself killed one of these days.”_**

“Everyone dies, Elijah, I’m just taunting the Grim Reaper for as long as I can so I can go out with a bang. How many are there?” the thief pressed.

**_“Largest group is 5 strong, the rest are scattered. The quintet is headed straight towards you.”_ **

“Sounds like fun, let’s see what kind of merry chase I can lead them on,” Gavin smirked as he pulled his hand back from the interface with the download complete. “You sure that Zlatko can see me?”

**_“Yes. He’s been watching the whole time.”_ **

Gavin’s smile grew as he sauntered out of the server room and saw company arrive, his blood thrumming with the challenge. “Good, lets show the whole Syndicate see just who they’re messing with.”

He was sprinting away before the other goons managed to get a shot off, making sure to keep himself well clear of those guns. If he took one too he might make his life easier, but where was the fun in that? Plus he’d sworn not to take a life through all of his thieving, that would make him no better than the group he was stealing from. He wasn’t one to play judge and decree who lived or died.

The chasing guards followed Gavin in his loop, falling right into his trap. Once he was back towards where the original patrol routes looped he interfaced with one of the double doors which separated the sections and jammed it shut. Gavin then shot out the panel with his taser to make sure no-one would be able to follow him before doubling back around the other side of the loop.

There was no way they would beat him to it: he was faster naturally and they’d spend time faffing with that door. Sure enough, he reached the other end and repeated the process to trap them inside.

10 down, 5 to go.

Knowing that he was now gearing up for his grand finale, Gavin decided to up the ante. “Fancy killing the lights for me, Elijah? 45 seconds ought to be enough.”

Gavin smirked as he heard Elijah’s long suffering sigh on the other end and crept towards the main atrium, seeing that it led to a balcony which looked over the entrance hall. All of the group were scattered through the room, far enough away that Gavin was confident he could stun enough to get a few into isolated combat.

“Bang bang, motherfuckers,” he whispered while opening a panel on his leg and pulling out two flashbangs: this was exactly what he needed to make his big statement to the Syndicate.

The White Rabbit wasn’t going to go away that easily.

Both flashbangs were hurled into the atrium, landing perfectly to stun three of the group exactly as Elijah killed the lights. With all of the confusion, Gavin managed to vault over the edge of the balcony and tumble to the floor below. While all of the guards were still stuttering around and trying to see in the dark, Gavin quickly scythed his way through the group.

Two were quickly spun around and had their heads knocked together before Gavin swept their legs out from under them. The scuffle alerted some of the others to Gavin’s position and they shot out blindly, but he was too quick. He dove to the left and skidded along the floor so that he was level with another guard. In the perfect position, he fired his taser and struck them straight in the leg.

The resultant screams were the perfect cover for Gavin to slink back into the darkness and race to the other end of the atrium at speed to take care of the other two guards – the ones that hadn’t been stunned by his flashbangs. While the two spied him and tried to shoot, Gavin just flipped away in an impressive show of agility before kicking a nearby bench straight at one guard.

It and the human collided in an almighty crash, and the other guard was so caught up in the surprise attack that they didn’t notice Gavin until he was too close. The hybrid skidded along the ground to avoid their desperate shot before launching himself up off the floor with a handspring. Gavin’s feet connected with the guard’s chin hard, and before they could get their bearings back Gavin had looped his legs around them. He used the strength in his android limbs to lean back on to his hand and hurtle them towards the dazed man, causing both of them to collapse in an unconscious heap.

Now with only his numb legged victim, Gavin decided it was time to showboat a little. They were still in agony and their aim was shaky, easy enough for Gavin to dodge. After playing around and dodging two poor aimed bullets, Gavin found a nearby stationery cup and threw it right at their head. Even more stunned, they had no chance when Gavin then sped towards them and launched himself from the reception desk to connect in a flying kick.

Everything went silent after their body collapsed to the floor. Smirking to himself, Gavin surveyed the damage once the lights came back on. A lot of really sore heads no doubt and a fair few serious bruises, but there wouldn’t be any deaths or life changing injuries.

Cleaned up, data acquired and sent a message to the Syndicate. A good shift’s work.

Unable to resist, Gavin picked up where a camera was from his contact lens and gave a half smirk over his shoulder while flipping the bird at the device.

Now sure that his message was received – **_Better luck next time, assholes –_** Gavin snapped his fingers and the feed went dead.

* * *

Everyone in the conference room in the precinct was reeling from what they’d just seen. Amanda’s expression was unreadable, Hank’s eyebrows were seemingly stuck while raised (and had been for a while) and Connor was gawping at the footage.

Niles? Niles burst out laughing. Despite the scowl he was receiving from Connor, he couldn’t stop himself from pouring out his relief and the worst timed arousal **ever.**

Damn, he’d not realised just how much of a badass Gavin could be. He’d seen the aftermath of his beloved thief’s scenes but that had never included the results of hand to hand combat. Now he really wanted to see just what Gavin was capable of if they sparred. Time and place for that though, and that was not now.

“Sorry, I just couldn’t fucking help it,” Niles snickered. “Zlatko’s grand plan to trap the White Rabbit failed utterly **miserably** , to the point where it almost looked like the Rabbit was showing off. I mean, come on: that was undeniably impressive. Since when does Zlatko get **owned**?”

Connor’s expression softened a little and he smiled in acknowledgement. “You have a point. That was equally terrifying and remarkable to watch,” the lieutenant agreed.

“The Rabbit still didn’t kill anyone. Even when confronted with so many of Zlatko’s mob wielding weapons, he didn’t even contemplate it,” Amanda stated blandly before turning to Hank. “Did you manage to find any partial IDs? Do you think we’ll manage to ascertain the Rabbit’s identity?”

Everything in the room froze as Hank unplugged himself from the tablet and turned to face the others. “Nope, not a fucking chance,” the HK android told them plainly. “Rabbit knew where all the cameras were, never managed to get a clear shot. The interference with Zlatko’s goons not taking the fucking hint and still trying to hack the network wasn’t helping, interrupted the feed at a lot of spots where we might have had a little more luck. All we’re gonna manage to do is narrow it down to the models we can get off the Rabbit’s body dimensions.”

The captain sighed in frustration and stood slowly. “In that case, I am about to have a very **interesting** discussion with Zlatko as to why his men are about to have a long stay with the cells, since he didn’t deliver on his end of the bargain,” she stated with a wry smile. “I’ll speak to all of you after that has concluded. Stay close by.”

Niles couldn’t actually believe what Gavin had somehow pulled off. Not only had he defied Zlatko’s trap, but he’d managed it without giving up even a hint of his own identity. How the fuck had he even managed **half** of the shit he’d done?

Gavin was going to get an earful when Niles next saw him for being so goddamned **stupid** as throwing himself into a trap…but his love was safe for a while.

The debriefing with Amanda went as well as it could have done, really. She let them know that Zlatko was seriously pissed and promised some form of retribution for the DPD daring to defy him and still hold his men prisoner despite threats of increased violence, but Amanda was adamant most of it was bluster. Yes, there would be an upturn for a while but it would die down. It wasn’t the DPD that Zlatko was truly pissed at, it was the White Rabbit.

Niles wasn’t allowed much space to celebrate, however, as Hank pulled him away to the rooftop for a ‘chat’. The tone made the detective’s blood run cold and he followed obligingly, but the way Hank slammed the door on the roof was not giving him a good feeling.

Hank’s expression was stern as he turned to Niles and stared him down. “All right, Nines, you need to do some more talking. Tell me exactly why I covered for you by fudging the footage so that Gavin’s face was obscured.”

Blown away, Niles stared at Hank in wonder. “You protected him?”

“Not exactly, never gave a clean look at his face but what was there would have narrowed it down enough to know that he’s not a standard android model. For now your team will still be circling around the stock appearances for long enough to give him time for this all to cool off,” Hank elaborated.

While Niles was still stunned, Hank let out a very human-like sigh and stared at the younger Anderson twin with a conflicted expression. “Look, I’ll be honest, Nines. I can’t really get my head around why you’re helping Gavin – he’s a career criminal – but one thing you and Con share is an impressive judgement of character. If you think he’s worth risking everything for…then I’m willing to hear you out.”

Immensely grateful, Niles offered Hank a small smile before pulling out his phone and sending a message. “Maybe it’ll be better if you hear this from Gavin himself. It is his story, after all.”

Only fifteen minutes later a figure in a white hoodie and black jeans scrambled on to the roof, with Gavin waving awkwardly as he approached. “’Sup?”

**_Fucking hell…_ **

Gavin has just come back from a death defying heist that he’d provoked one of the most dangerous crime lords in Detroit, and the first thing he said was ‘Sup?’.

Niles swore he was going to throttle his thief one of these days if the Syndicate didn’t beat him to it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you all want to know where my major inspiration for the whole facility sequence came from, look up **_'Glitz at the Ritz'_** but Jules Gaia. It's one hell of a beat and had exactly the high impact/troll energy I was going for with Gavin.
> 
> Our Rabbit escapes to live another day! He's making some bigger enemies though.
> 
> We're now officially halfway through the series! Parts 5 and 6 will be one-shots, Part 7 will be a two-shot and Part 8 (the finale) will be another multi chaptered fic. I hope all of you will stick around to see the grand conclusion!
> 
> See you all next time!


End file.
